Hello. I have posted on the other boards before a little, but for the most part I am a newbie to these forums. I have been Crossfitting for 10 months, and zoning for about 8 months. I do Crossfit 5 times a week religously, and I feel like I hit the workouts pretty hard. I also teach PE for students with special needs, so my job is a little more physically demanding than your average office job. My coach rec'd that I eat 11 blocks a day, however I find my self very very hungry at times. He then told me to double the fats at every meal, and it has helped a tiny bit, but I still feel hungry sometimes. Last night I was looking around on this site and I entered my stats into the body fat/block calculator. After putting in my info, the site rec'd that I eat 16 blocks a day!!!!

So I have two questions... 1) Is 11 blocks enough for me each day? and 2) would you consider my activity level to be in the "elite athlete" category?

I appreciate your insight. I'm just looking to gain as much as I can out of my workouts at Crossfit, as well as I'd like to be as lean as possible. Thanks in advance.

Hi Stacey,

Your activity level for Zone purposes would be either Active or Very Active, depending on the intensity of your Crossfit, and any other athletic activities you perform. Without knowing your LBM, it would not be possible to make a specific block recommendation for you.

Hunger can be due to a variety of things. When you are eating Zone balanced meals and snacks in the amounts to meet you protein requirement and have hunger, the first thing to do is adjust the amounts and types of carbohydrates you're eating (follow the Zone fine-tuning recommendations). A little extra fat can help to some extent, because fat helps to control the rate of entry of carbohydrate into the blood stream, but it wouldn’t usually be the first adjustment to make for hunger. If you feel you're lacking energy with workouts, a little additional fat will be a reasonable adjustment, but I don't hear you mentioning lack of energy. That said, many Crossfitters I know double their added fat blocks.

Good luck!

Thanks Sue. I am sorry, but I don't know what LBM means. As far as my meals go, I do not eat grains. At every meal, my carbs consist of fruits and veggies only, my proteins are lean meats or eggs (sometimes cheese), and my fats consist of either olive oil, nuts or nut butters. And, you're right, I am not lacking energy during workouts, or at any time throughout the day, my energy level is just fine. I appreciate your help.

You're welcome!

LBM stands for Lean Body Mass. It's composed of everything in your body that is not fat (water, bones, muscle, etc.) Your protein requirement in grams, for the Zone, is based on your LBM. It’s calculated by multiplying your LBM times your activity level factor. The block requirement is then determined by dividing you protein requirement by 7 (7 grams of protein = 1 P block). When using the calculator on this site, the result will show your pounds of LBM.

If you're getting hungry, it means you're not staying in the Zone and require an adjustment ( for more info about adjusting, refer to the fine tuning recommendations in you Zone book).

My first suggestion is to determine your recommended block amount using the calculator, and eat at that level for a few days to see if the hunger is eliminated. If not, I'll be happy to help you decide on appropriate adjustments.

Ok, I think I will up my blocks then starting tomorrow. Thanks again for your help Sue.

You're welcome Stacey. Good luck!